No Array Defined

[Angel_Fire_]

when i boot up i get the no array defined msg how do i fix this?

[Match]

HI can we have a little more info on your system if possible like what Operating system you have, CPU, Motherboard and Hard Drives please

[Angel_Fire_]

info

 

windows xp home, asus mother board, the hard drive i have set as master is a western digital. i just had to reformat the drive and install the new version of windows. i am guessing i need to look for the motherboard drivers for all the ide ports to work properly.

[Match]

Do you have more than one hard drive and are you trying to set them up as Raid?

 

or have you just added a new hard drive or changed the original?

[Angel_Fire_]

answer

 

well first i tried hooking all up, then i just changed the original drive to a different drive and reformatted it and re installed windows

[Dalo Harkin]

Do you have any SATA ports on your mobo?

if so disable them via the BIOS - you stated that you are using IDE drives - are they all IDE or do you have a mix of both?

[Angel_Fire_]

ports

 

i think there is one sata port. i was told that the drives i am using are ide. and the pc upon boot scans them. dont have anything connected to the sata drive port though.

[Dalo Harkin]

Right - go into the BIOS and disable the SATA port - thats why the system is stating no array defined, as the port is active, but there is nothing connected to it

[Angel_Fire_]

where do i find it

 

how do i find where to shut the sata off?

[backtogeek]

You have to do that in the bios, when the system very first starts to boot its usually a case of pressing one of the following keys to get into the bios setup, F2, Del, Esc

 

Once in there there will be an option (possibly integrated devices) or a boot priority / order and you need to disable the onboard sata controller or move the sata controller below the primary hdd in the boot order.

 

Its hard to say exactly without knowing exactly what bios your motherboard runs but that should give you a good clue.

 

when using sata you usualy have to define an array to ready the drives as you intend to use them, on most motherboards that have on board sata controllers you would get the option of Raid 0 Raid 1 or native sata for a single drive configuration.

 

as you are not using sata you have not defined an array and it is attempting to boot a non defined sata drive array before booting from IDE hence the original error message.